Minister Jiang was an intelligent person. Navigating through the tough scenes of politics all these years had given him sharp senses. He could just tell why his nephew might have called him. He was feeling so proud of his daughter right now that he was beaming from ear to ear.
"What do you mean by daughter? Am I a stranger to you that you would adopt a daughter and not tell me at all? You have not even announced her adoption anywhere and you sent her here to die without any backup? Do you not remember older brother Bo anymore?" Su Lang didn't understand his uncle's rationale behind his decision. He had lost his own son to this school. Why would he send another child to face the same fate as his biological son?
"Things have changed quite a bit little Lang. That's the only thing I can tell you right now." By mentioning Jiang Bo's name, Su Lang had poked his sore spots. Jiang Nuo had taken two whole years to come out of depression after losing his only son. Then he found Mei Qingyang and they again became a happy family of three. Bringing Jiang Bo into the conversation, Jiang Nuo went into reminiscing mode again.
"Ah! Sorry uncle but the main reason I called you was to know more about Mei Qingyang." Su Lang sensed the anger and sadness he had evoked by taking his cousin's name. He tried to shift the topic.
"What do you want to know about her? Isn't she amazing by the way? I feel so blessed to have a daughter like her." Jiang Nuo's voice recovered from earlier gloom and he was again chirping. Su Lang heaved a sigh of relief.
"What do we want to know? Everything! We could not find anything about her before you adopted her four years ago. There is no history at all. Where did you find her from? Plus, you never told me about her. I thought I was close to you. Four years, uncle, four years!" Su Lang was too eager to know about Mei Qingyang and anguished that his beloved uncle would hide something so big for so long from him. By relationship, she would be his cousin. As wary as he was of her, they still were a pair of siblings then.
"Listen little Lang, it doesn't matter where she came from. Trust your uncle in his choice. I am vouching for her, isn't that enough?" Jiang Nuo was very happy that Mei Qingyang was raising some eyebrows on the second day of her being in the school itself. *Ah daughter, you're the best. I know I have raised a tiger. You will definitely accomplish your mission.*
"But uncle…"
"No buts. I myself don't have much information on her. I had saved her from somewhere and she doesn't remember anything about her past. Let her be. She has never shown any suspicious behaviors over past four years and I do consider her as my own, adopted or not. All I can ask you is to protect her, now that you're all grown up. I hope I can count on you." Jiang Nuo regretted not introducing her to Su Lang earlier now. If she had been inducted in the high society beforehand, it would have been an easier transition for her during this assignment.
But whatever was done was done. He had absolute faith in his daughter that she would be able to handle whatever obstacles came her way. He had found her unconscious in a burning car somewhere along a river in an unknown region when he was driving down to another city for work. Her skin was charred and she had suffered third degree burns at some places, but she was mostly intact. He had transferred her to the hospital right away.
Unfortunately, she could not remember much after waking up. It took her almost half a year to really come back to senses and start talking. Before that, she would just lie down in the hospital bed and stare out of the window. Sometimes, tears would just fall down her eyes, like she would remember something. Other times, she would also suffer from nightmares. After the Jiang couple officially adopted her as their daughter, they decided to give her name Qingyang. But Qingyang insisted on keeping her last name as Mei.
They were a doting couple, so they let her do as she wished. They had finally got a child two years after they lost Jiang Bo and they wanted to spoil her rotten. The girl came out to be very diligent and it took her only two years to complete high school curriculum. After that, Jiang Nuo decided to employ her at Ministry of Education to give her some real-world experience before she decided where to go for her college.
Don't know when his wife told her the story of Jiang Bo, Mei Qingyang again insisted to come to this school and work in the same role as Jiang Bo to uncover the school's dark secrets. Jiang Nuo did not even talk to her for weeks after he heard her decision. But his daughter didn't budge. He ultimately had to give in and allow her to go to that cursed place. He just wished for her to be safe.
"Okay uncle, as you wish." Su Lang's voice from the other side of phone snapped Jiang Nuo from his thoughts. Of course, he didn't tell all these details to the boys.
"Thanks little Lang. I will owe you one if she finishes her one-year assignment alive. I will render her work failed then and transfer her to other school. Just make sure she survives till then." He disconnected the call after saying this.
Since the phone was on loudspeaker, all three guys heard the minister. While they understood his love for his daughter, they also could tell that she was a rebellious girl and was here on her own accord, not because her father assigned her here. Was she here for revenge for her adoptive brother whom she had never met? Why would she pin all the blame on her father earlier about sending her here?
That can't be right, right? No matter how grateful she was to Jiang family, she would not throw away her life just like that, right? Now they were tasked to protect this girl by Su Lang's uncle, they did not have a choice but to involve themselves with her.
The only other option was to support her from the shadows. but was that even possible?
It seemed that this phone call proved to have an opposite effect. They had more questions than answers now. For next few days, Mei Qingyang occupied everyone's heads.
Damn, is our FL's father also conspiring against her plans? I know it is out of concern, but still. I don't know how to feel about Minister Jiang just yet.
This is the maximum amount of background information about most of the important characters in the story.